BVSA Sports Show: Episode 23

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 23

Frankie – So Virg what do you think the surprise positive teams are throughout this season?

Virg – I’m wearing one still though, still I’m rocking with (pirates) them. I know there was an earlier episode I think I did with Joe and Matt where I said the Cardinals are like the surprise team for everything, and with them faltering and that pitching staff not being the same and not being able to control the game and their hitters just unraveling. The fact that Tyler O’Neil is being talked about in trade rumors already. Like with that team falling, that division went from theirs to wide open. Pittsburgh ran with it early. They’re still kind of there. There’s positive signs for O’Neill Cruz coming back from his fractured fibula. 

Frankie – Not until after the All-Star breakdown, right?

Virg – Still. So you still have positive signs of that coming back. That’s a spark, that’s a Elly De La Cruz spark. Yeah they’re almost the same, they’re very similar. But in that division alone, you have the Reds, you have the Pirates, you have the Cubs outplaying their expectations, good baseball. If anything, the Brewers have allowed it to happen because, and you could have seen that coming with how they treated Burns in arbitration. You knew something was not going to be right.

Frankie – But when he lasted started he gave up 6.

Virg – I will commend him for going four plus or whatever it was. Like, he’s staying there, yeah.

Frankie – He’s a good player, he’ll be able to figure it out. But I mean, yeah, it was crazy, it was unexpected.

Virg – That’s 3 surprise teams right there. Let alone the best of all of them is the team that put up those six runs against them. First-place Diamondbacks.

Frankie – That’s my surprise team right there, the D-backs. What are they, 10 games over right now, almost? Yeah, it’s about nine, nine-ten games over .500, leading that division by three and a half games. Whoa, like what’s going on over there?

Virg – Faltering Padres. The Dodgers that are spending astronomical numbers to continue a competitive team on the field. The Giants, who you thought would be good.

Frankie – Another Giants team in my surprise team. They’re above .500. They just jumped ahead of the Dodgers. The Dodgers are in third place in the NLS right now. It’s Diamondbacks, Giants, Dodgers.

Virg – I think looking at the list that we’ve talked about, I think as it stands right now, four teams out of last year’s postseason are currently in playoff spots. That’s it, yeah. It’s a lot of young exciting teams making their way through. I could see the Diamondbacks holding on.

Frankie – I could too. Their pitching has been very good. Zach Gallen has been great, Merrill Kelly has had a good year. Yeah, they have a good bullpen. Andrew Chaffin’s good at the end of the bullpen. I like them, but they have a lot of good young guys.

Virg – I think they get one more arm for their bullpen. And it they can get another corner bat, and because I Christian Walker and I love Longoria, I’ve got nothing bad to say about them. You need a true everyday differentiating bat and everyday bat.

Frankie – Yeah, Evan Longoria is not going to play every day. Like you got one at first with Christian Walker. He’s good. He’ll give you 25-30 home runs but right now they have Emmanuel Rivera playing at third. They’re going to need an everyday third baseman to make this happen. Yeah, but I had a lot of promise there with that D-backs team. And similarly, as the D-backs, I think the Orioles, that Orioles team is good. That Orioles team, 

Virg – I don’t think they’re firing on all cylinders yet either. 

Frankie – Yeah, no, I don’t think so either, and they’re sitting there nestled right under the Rays. They’re not going anywhere. And with the Blue Jays not really putting it together for a long period of time, the Yankees faltering right now, it’s only going to get better for the Orioles. 

Virg – And that AL East is still going to be competitive. No one’s going to give up in that. Red Sox are 3 games over .500. I’d like to see what happens to the Blue Jays when they get Manoa back. Let that be their spark plug, that energy. 

Frankie – Oh, yeah, but I’ve never seen a guy fall off a cliff like that in my life, like recently, like that. That was insane. His every start he had this year, that I watched him pitch in, he looked helpless. He actually looked, it was insane to watch because last year he was dominant. He was striking out 10 guys a game. He was going deep into ball games. He can’t get out of the first inning anymore. Yeah, his last start was the worst of all of them, and I didn’t think that this was going to be so much of a thing. The pitch clock looks like it’s really affecting him. 

Virg – So the pitch clock was his big thing. It made him work so much faster, where he had big times in between. Yeah, and his fastball-slider usage also changed over the last year. Like it’s going to affect everybody differently. 

Frankie – Well, you know what’s interesting about that? He did take a lot of time between pitches. You know who had the most and took the most time on average in between pitches the brothers on base last year? Shohei Ohtani. Yeah, he’s still doing pretty good.

Virg – When you’re Shohei, I think you figure it out. I guess so. He’s a different person. Sure. But he’s definitely not the same as he was last year. I find no, but he’s still putting those numbers. Oh yeah, top five in K’s. I think the only thing that isn’t high is his win total. Yeah, and all his pitching stats, his ERA over three. Yeah, true. But the Angels are in a playoff spot. If you end the season right now, Angels are in the playoffs. 

Frankie – Let’s think about let’s talk about one more surprise team that I got here that I don’t think anybody was really expecting to be doing what they’re doing, and they’re kind of being led by a historic Superman figure right now. Luis Arias is hitting .398 right now, just a touch under .400, and the Marlins are good. The Marlins have won like 13 of their last 15 games. 

Virg – It’s very reminiscent of the COVID season of like, ‘Why not us? Why not us?’ and just go out there and leave us on the COVID season Marlins. 

Frankie – Yeah, this team is better than that too. 

Virg – No, I know it is, but I’m saying that’s the same energy I’m getting from that. Like, ‘Why not? We’re gonna go, we’re doing it, we got the stars.’ Yuri Perez last night was literally shutting down baseball. 

Frankie – He’s so good. That guy is 20 years old. He’s born in 2003. Yuri Perez was born in 2003. I saw his first career start. I’m two years older than that guy. He went six scoreless. I’m like, what if? 

Virg – Imagine what that rotation can be. And Sandy’s not having the same season. He’s got a five ERA. Yeah, that’s an exciting team. That is a very exciting team. Talk about from all the surprises to where teams are faltering. The Twins, who are right now leading the AL Central under .500. Under .500. 

Frankie – The Red Sox are three games over in last place. 

Virg – Also, as of a few days ago when Araez passed the 100-hit mark. Yeah, the Twins had no hitter over 60 hits. Correa was leading the team with like 51-54. No one else. It’s a great European Pablo Lopez. You go get your star. Took him, took a week off for mental health. You will get all that. Nobody’s hitting on your squad. Nobody can stay. I don’t think nobody’s doing it now. Everyone on the Marlins hits because it’s contagious. Oh yeah. So, you have the surprise team of the Marlins, and you have the team that a little surprise traded him away. Yeah, and no one in that division can play. 

Frankie – No one can hit. Not a singular person, not a singular person.

For more on the MLB and some crazy surprises so far click the video below!